China in the American Imagination, 1911-2011

In an illustrated talk, Jeffrey Wasserstrom will explore the dreams and nightmares that China has inspired among Americans from the days of Sun Yat-sen through the Beijing Games. He will offer examples from popular culture (films of the 1930s, television programs of recent years, and so on) as well as from journalism and diplomacy. Comparisons will be drawn between American visions of China, on one hand, and neighbors such as Japan and India on the other.

ENTRY: free also for non members, mobile phones have to be left with the security personnel

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:Jeffrey Wasserstrom is Chair of the History Department at the University of California, Irvine. He is also the Editor of the Journal of Asian Studies, a co-founder and regular contributor to “The China Beat” blog/electronic magazine, and the author of several books, including Global Shanghai, 1850-2010 (Routledge, 2009) and China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford, 2010). Next month he will deliver the annual John Fisher Zeidman Memorial Lecture at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C.